Almost the moment Hubert Wilmer walked in the front door at the Hooters in downtown Indianapolis, kitchen manager Jerry Bryant was certain he had previously met the restaurant's new manager-in-training. "Didn't we work together before?" Bryant asked Wilmer.
"Maybe it was my twin brother," Wilmer joked back to the kitchen manager.
The next afternoon, on October 10, it dawned on Bryant. He used to work with Wilmer at another restaurant. Bryant immediately reported this information to Terry Moberly, the area supervisor who had just hired Wilmer contingent on a background check from the home office. During the interview process, Moberly had already heard Wilmer talk his way out of two tricky situations-explaining why Wilmer had an employment gap on his resume and why he didn't have a driver's license-so the supervisor was not about to wait around for headquarters to report back on the still-pending background check. He typed in "Hubert Wilmer" into an Internet search engine.
He got something.
A West Virginia newspaper reported that Kanawha County authorities had issued an arrest warrant for a man named Hubert Wilmer for animal cruelty charges and for failing to appear in court. Moberly called the reporter who wrote the article and then spoke directly with the Kanawha County police. Based on the description that police provided of the suspect, Moberly was fairly certain that the Hubert Wilmer they wanted stood right there in his Hooters restaurant.
As Moberly learned, the allegations in the case were disturbing. Wilmer was arrested in August 2002 for starving his pet dog Sunbear to death in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, just northwest of Charleston. Wilmer's former girlfriend discovered Sunbear when she entered the otherwise vacant townhouse that Wilmer had once occupied with the dog. When the year-and-a half old chocolate Labrador retriever was found, he weighed 25 pounds, a quarter of his normal weight.
Kanawha County, West Virginia, humane officer Gene Fields reported that when Sunbear finally made his way out of the condominium, the dog staggered across the yard and rolled down a bank to a nearby creek to get a sip of water. He was rushed to the animal emergency clinic, where veterinarians tried to save him but couldn't. "I thought what I was looking at was a dead dog because all you could see was the bones," Fields reported.
"He looked like a walking skeleton," a neighbor said. "It was the most sickening thing I have ever seen, and the dog had to be in there at least six weeks without food and water, a bare minimum."
An area resident who had heard about Sunbear's plight visited the animal at the veterinary clinic just before he died. "I told him we loved him and we were very sorry that we did not hear his cries," she told reporters. "He put his head in my hand and licked my hand and looked at me so sadly."
When word of this crime got out, The HSUS offered a reward for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Sunbear's slow and painful death, then a misdemeanor under West Virginia's animal cruelty laws. (The state has since passed a felony-level animal cruelty law.) The reward led to the arrest of Wilmer, who then reportedly failed to appear for two court appearances. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
After piecing the story together, Moberly got in his car, not exactly sure of his next move. Driving to the restaurant where Wilmer was working, Moberly pulled out his cell phone and contacted The HSUS to figure out what to do. HSUS congratulated Moberly on his diligent work and urged him to keep Wilmer occupied in the restaurant. Once at Hooters, Moberly sent Wilmer to "the garage," a place in the back of the restaurant, separate from the customers and staff. He told Wilmer to read training materials.
In the meantime, HSUS urged humane officer Fields to touch base with the prosecutor's office-a request for extradition was needed in the next two hours. With an extradition request, Wilmer could be arrested in Indiana and taken to West Virginia where he would face charges for animal cruelty and failing to appear. The prosecutor's office agreed, and The HSUS got word to Moberly.
To facilitate the arrest, Moberly spoke with an officer he found at Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. The officer was initially dubious that someone could be extradited for animal cruelty charges, but before Moberly knew it, there were four officers ready to drive to the restaurant and arrest Wilmer.
While Moberly explained the situation to the wait staff and calmed their fears, two cops went in the back door and two went in the front of the restaurant. Police found Wilmer studying in the "garage" and quickly arrested him for animal cruelty. Although Wilmer denied everything, he was taken away in handcuffs. He was eventually transported to West Virginia where he is now being held in South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County on $100,000 bond. A jury trial has been set for February 23, 2004.
Ann Chynoweth, counsel to The HSUS's Investigative Services, had nothing but praise for those who assisted in the Indianapolis arrest and extradition, including Moberly, the supervisor who showed so much resolve. "We can't help but be impressed with the team of people who came together to make this happen. Sunbear suffered a cruel and lonely death, but with these good people, hopefully we are on the road to getting this poor dog some justice."
